Original Sin #0Review

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Who watches the Watcher?

By Jesse Schedeen

Original Sin seems like a pretty accessible event comic as far as these things go, but it never hurts to give new readers a primer coming into the storyline. That's the thinking behind Original Sin #0. This prologue issue is concerned with little else besides introducing readers to the Watcher, his mission, and laying some basic groundwork before the main series and its murder mystery kicks in. That doesn't make for an overly ambitious comic, but with Mark Waid at the helm, it's at least an enjoyable, well-crafted ride.

Waid casts Nova as the voice of the reader in this issue. Still relatively new to the cosmic scene, Sam Alexander pays a visit to Uatu's moon base in hopes of learning more about his mission and his motivation for being the universe's biggest voyeur. Uatu scarcely utters a word of dialogue throughout. This is the Watcher at his most stoic and alien, which is admittedly a jarring transition after how the character was portrayed in Matt Fraction and Mike Allred's FF. But that treatment suits the tone of this issue well enough. Waid delivers a clean, comprehensive look at Uatu's origin, even detailing his own "original sin."

And Nova makes for an enjoyable lead character. While his narration is a little excessive in the middle of the issue, Waid is able to channel the right blend of humor and pathos to the character, focusing heavily on Sam's longing for his father along the way. This is Sam at his best, and it leaves me hoping that Waid will tackle the Nova solo series at some point in the future.

Jim Cheung and Paco Medina share pencilling duties on this issue. And while it's disappointing that Cheung isn't flying solo as originally solicited, at least the various inkers involved are able to downplay the shifts between pencillers and keep up a high standard of cinematic flair. There are several splash pages in this issue that stand out as very event-worthy.

Due to an unforeseen and urgent health concern that requires immediate attention, the tour has been forced to reschedule a few select shows.